Findings may lead to new treatment to curb threat of drug-resistant malaria

Tampa, Fla. (March 3, 2015) – A University of South Florida College of Public Health professor and his team of researchers have become the first to uncover part of the mysterious process by which malaria-related parasites spread at explosive and deadly rates inside humans and other animals.

As drug-resistant malaria threatens to become a major public health crisis, the findings could potentially lead to a powerful new treatment for malaria-caused illnesses that kill more than 600,000 people a year.

In a study published online March 3 in the high-impact journal PLOS Biology, the USF researchers and their colleagues at the University of Georgia discovered how these ancient parasites manage to replicate their chromosomes up to thousands of times before spinning off into daughter cells with perfect similitude – all the while avoiding cell death.

Michael White, PhD, professor of global health at USF Health, was principal investigator for the study.

“How these parasites preserve fidelity in this seemingly chaotic process is one of the great mysteries of this pathogen family,” said USF Health’s Michael White, PhD, a professor in the Department of Global Health who partnered on the study with fellow USF researcher Elena Suvorova, PhD, in the USF Departments of Molecular Medicine & Global Health and the Florida Center for Drug Discovery and Innovation, as well as with two researchers from the University of Georgia.

In studying the malaria-relative Toxoplasma gondii, the team found an explanation for that puzzle.

To understand it, consider that malaria-related parasites are professional multipliers, unlike plant and animal species and single-cell organisms like yeast – where chromosomes get one shot at replication or else the cell dies or turns into cancer, Dr. White explained.

With malaria-related parasites, once transmitted into an animal or human, they can hide out in a single cell in many different tissues replicating silently tens, hundreds or even thousands of times before the host’s immune system can detect that they are there.

Then with the stealth of a Trojan horse, they burst forth as “daughter cells,” which are unleashed in massive quantities in waves, like a small army into the host’s system – quickly overwhelming a patient’s immune response, Dr. White explained.

What the study found was that the Toxoplasma parasites pull this off thanks to a “modified ‘control room’ called the centrosome that imposes order on the replication chaos,” Dr. White said. “Unlike the comparatively simple centrosome present in human cells, the parasite ‘control room’ has two distinct operating machines; one machine controls chromosome copying, while the other machine regulates when to form daughter cell bodies. Working together, but with independent responsibilities, parasite centrosome machines can dictate the scale and timing of pathogen replication.”

This groundbreaking understanding and novel discovery of the centrosome’s function leads to a critical conclusion: disruption of the centrosome machines – like cutting the cables between two computer systems – kills the parasite, Dr. White said.

Breaking any part of the highly efficient but highly fragile replication functions shuts everything down.

“They are literally Humpty Dumpty,” he added. “If they break, they can’t be put back together.”

The dividing Toxoplasma tachyzoite (left cartoon) recently copied its chromosomes and a stage of mitosis called metaphase was captured (at right). For each daughter parasite to receive one chromosome set (14 total, blue color) and one each of the centrosome machines (outer core, red and inner core, green), it first aligns these structures in a linear array (metaphase) all connected by microtubules (not seen here). Then the parasite cell breaks the connection at the chromosomes and a complete set of chromosomes and centrosome machines separate followed by the nucleus dividing. The two resolved outer cores (red) then complete coordinating the assembly of the daughter cells (not shown) that become infectious parasites.

With these findings and the new knowledge of the parasites’ vulnerabilities, Dr. White and his fellow researchers will delve into drug development.

That process could take anywhere from four to 10 years of further research and clinical trials before a new drug is on the market, he said. The length of time depends on whether the researchers hit upon effective application of prior-FDA approved cancer-related drugs or develop a new treatment from scratch.

Whatever treatment they develop, Dr. White stressed that it will be used in conjunction with other types of drug therapies.

Currently drugs used to treat malaria go after the pathogens’ metabolism, while the new research will seek to undermine the parasite’s foundation in enough of the spreading cells in order to allow the human immune system to fight back and not become overwhelmed, Dr. White said.

A major challenge today in parts of the world is the lack of access to drug treatments at all or until it is too late and the patient succumbs to malaria-related illnesses and brain hemorrhaging.

Because of the parasite’s high-adaptability, current drug treatments are constantly susceptible to the development of drug resistance, Dr. White said.

A potential global health crisis is unfolding as drug-resistant malaria continues to move across Burma, reaching the Indian border, according to British newspaper The Independent, commenting on a recent study in the journal Lancet. Doctors fear it will continue to spread and enter Africa, home to 90 percent of the world’s malaria cases.

Malaria caused about 207 million cases and 627,000 deaths in 2012, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About 3.2 billion people, or half the world’s population, are at risk of malaria, according to the World Health Organization.

Dr. White said that this study, which he called the first for a USF Health laboratory in publishing original research in PLOS Biology, will help get more potential treatments in the pipeline.

“The more we understand their vulnerability,” he said of the parasites, “the better chance we can keep that pipeline full.”

The study was supported by the National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Disease (NIAID), National Institutes of Health.

Article citation:
“A Novel Bipartite Centrosome Coordinates the Apicoplexan Cell Cycle,” Elena S. Suvorova, Maria Francia, Boris Striepen and Michael W. White, PLOS Biology, March 3, 2015; DOI:10.1371/journal.pbio.1002093. -USF Health-USF Health’s mission is to envision and implement the future of health. It is the partnership of the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine, the College of Nursing, the College of Public Health, the College of Pharmacy, the School of Biomedical Sciences and the School of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Sciences; and the USF Physician’s Group. The University of South Florida is a Top 50 research university in total research expenditures among both public and private institutions nationwide, according to the National Science Foundation. For more information, visit www.health.usf.edu

]]>http://hscweb3.hsc.usf.edu/blog/2015/03/03/usf-led-study-sheds-light-on-how-malaria-parasites-grow-exponentially/feed/0Dr. Kathryn Hall elected first woman president of Florida facial plastic surgery societyhttp://hscweb3.hsc.usf.edu/blog/2015/03/03/dr-kathryn-hall-elected-first-woman-president-of-florida-facial-plastic-surgery-group/
http://hscweb3.hsc.usf.edu/blog/2015/03/03/dr-kathryn-hall-elected-first-woman-president-of-florida-facial-plastic-surgery-group/#commentsTue, 03 Mar 2015 14:18:42 +0000http://hscweb3.hsc.usf.edu/?p=13503USF surgeon Kathryn L. Hall, MD, was recently named president of the Florida Society of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, taking the helm as the first woman president […]

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USF surgeon Kathryn L. Hall, MD, was recently named president of the Florida Society of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, taking the helm as the first woman president of the organization.

Dr. Hall is proud of being elected president of FSFPRS, but being the first woman president of the group offers an even stronger feeling of accomplishment. It’s a step, she said, that hints to the increase in the number of women in leadership roles that is coming.

Dr. Kathryn Hall.

“Women have made great inroads into the field of medicine over the past decades and I think the next frontier for female physicians is medical leadership,” she said. “As the number of women in surgical subspecialties grows, I hope those physicians become engaged in the leadership of their respective professional societies.”

To help fill that medical leadership pipeline, Dr. Hall mentors USF medical students and urges them to aim for leadership roles.

“Female students will often ask me about work-life balance,” she said. “They’re interested in pursuing a surgical career, but are concerned about how it might impact their current or future family. I remember having the same trepidation. Now, as the wife of a wonderful man with his own busy career, and the mother of two boys, an active 6-month-old and a 5-year-old, I can honestly tell students I wouldn’t choose any other profession. When I’m at work, all my attention is focused on doing my job to the best of my ability. And when I’m at home, all my energy is focused on being the best wife and mother I can be. The goal is to be fully present wherever you are.”

“My best advice to women wanting to get involved in medical leadership is to volunteer your services to whatever organization you want to join,” she said. “You’ll meet some amazing people and grow personally and professionally.”

Dr. Hall earned her medical degree from the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine. She conducted her residency in otolaryngology head and neck surgery and her surgical internship at Case Western Reserve University, and a fellowship in facial plastic and cosmetic surgery at the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine. She is board certified from both the American Board of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery and the American Board of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery.

]]>http://hscweb3.hsc.usf.edu/blog/2015/03/03/dr-kathryn-hall-elected-first-woman-president-of-florida-facial-plastic-surgery-group/feed/0Dr. William Sappenfield adds HRSA Director’s Award to list of recognitionshttp://hscweb3.hsc.usf.edu/blog/2015/03/02/dr-william-sappenfield-adds-hrsa-directors-award-to-list-of-recognitions/
http://hscweb3.hsc.usf.edu/blog/2015/03/02/dr-william-sappenfield-adds-hrsa-directors-award-to-list-of-recognitions/#commentsMon, 02 Mar 2015 18:44:23 +0000http://hscweb3.hsc.usf.edu/?p=13497A board-certified pediatrician, Dr. William Sappenfield never entered traditional medical practice. While finishing his residency, he decided he wanted to enter academics, instead. Following the advice of his […]

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A board-certified pediatrician, Dr. William Sappenfield never entered traditional medical practice. While finishing his residency, he decided he wanted to enter academics, instead. Following the advice of his father, a professor and associate dean at a medical school, he applied to an NIH-CDC research training program.

A widely recognized pioneer in his field, Sappenfield received the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration’s Maternal and Child Health Bureau Director’s Award “for outstanding leadership and mentoring in promoting MCH epidemiologists nationwide” at the Association of Maternal and Child Health Programs annual conference in Washington, D.C., in late January.

]]>http://hscweb3.hsc.usf.edu/blog/2015/03/02/dr-william-sappenfield-adds-hrsa-directors-award-to-list-of-recognitions/feed/0Board of Governors approves request to build new USF medical school in downtown Tampahttp://hscweb3.hsc.usf.edu/blog/2015/02/19/board-governors-approves-request-build-new-usf-medical-school-downtown-tampa/
http://hscweb3.hsc.usf.edu/blog/2015/02/19/board-governors-approves-request-build-new-usf-medical-school-downtown-tampa/#commentsThu, 19 Feb 2015 20:36:55 +0000http://hscweb3.hsc.usf.edu/?p=13427Proposal now advances to Florida Legislature and Governor Tampa, FL (Feb. 19, 2015) – The Florida Board of Governors today approved the request by the University of South […]

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Proposal now advances to Florida Legislature and Governor

Tampa, FL (Feb. 19, 2015) – The Florida Board of Governors today approved the request by the University of South Florida to build its new USF Health medical school and heart institute in downtown Tampa. The unanimous vote to fund the proposal – $17 million from the state this year as part of a $62-million multi-year request — is a key step in making the vision for a downtown Morsani College of Medicine-Heart Institute a reality. For more information, visit: http://www.usf.edu/downtown/

The project still requires the approval of the Florida Legislature and Governor Rick Scott. If it gains that support, the facility would become an anchor for the plan by Tampa Bay Lightning owner and USF partner Jeff Vinik to create an economically thriving downtown waterfront environment where people could live, work and play.

“We are so pleased,” said USF President Judy Genshaft, speaking to media following the vote. “We worked very hard. There’s a lot of academic merit as well as economic merit to moving the medical school and the heart institute downtown.”

“We are very grateful that the Florida Board of Governors recognizes the merits of this project to advance USF’s core academic and research missions, while at the same time supporting our community,” said Dr. Charles Lockwood, senior vice president for USF Health and dean of the Morsani College of Medicine. “Now we look forward to building additional support with the Legislature and Governor Scott.”

In remarks to the Board before the vote, Dr. Lockwood emphasized that the proposed downtown facility would be built with a combination of state and private funding. “We are leveraging private support to gain a superior facility,” he said.

The new facility would be located at the corner of Meridian Avenue and Channelside Drive, on land donated to the university by Mr. Vinik.

The City of Tampa and Community Redevelopment Agency have committed funding to restore the surrounding street grid and make needed infrastructure improvements to support the area’s redevelopment.

Dr. Charles Lockwood, senior vice president for USF Health and dean of the Morsani College of Medicine, with the medical school leaders, l to r, Jessica Watson, Cathy Lee and Ed Woodward, who attended Thursday’s successful BOG meeting.

“We are thrilled with today’s news from Tallahassee and as a ‘partner’ with the University of South Florida on the project, we thank the Florida Board of Governors for their unanimous vote today,” Vinik said in a statement. “We look forward to making the Morsani School of Medicine and the accompanying Heart Institute one of the major anchors in our development district. We envision and embrace the vibrancy that USF and its students, faculty and staff will bring to downtown Tampa. This marks a great step forward.”

“Today, thanks to the support of the Florida Board of Governors, we can say with confidence that the University of South Florida Morsani School of Medicine and the USF Heart Institute will call downtown Tampa home,” Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn said in a statement.

“This is a big, bold collaboration. It takes imagination, public and private financial commitment, and tenacity to see a vision as dynamic as this through to fruition. And, it’s because of the University of South Florida’s continued commitment to academic excellence that building them a new facility with immediate access to Tampa General Hospital and our urban core is the right choice.”

After a delay in the vote by the BOG last month, leadership from USF and USF Health prepared a comprehensive business plan with detailed supporting materials. The plan documents how the proposed facility would maximize the state’s investment in USF’s core mission by leveraging the university’s ability to attract the best and brightest students, the most talented faculty and the country’s leading research scientists.

The fundraiser teams patient with USF neurologist who studies new treatments for the neurodegenerative disease

Tampa, FL (Feb. 18, 2015) – The first time his right arm froze up, Rick Karczewski let it pass.

Then six months later on Memorial Day, driving his Harley-Davidson motorcycle up Interstate 75 to meet fellow military veterans heading to Florida National Cemetery in Bushnell, his hands began to cramp. “There’s something wrong with me,” he thought. Karczewski told his buddies he’d better head back home.

His doctor referred him to Dr. Theresa Zesiewicz, a neurologist at the University of South Florida’s Parkinson’s Disease and Ataxia Center. A battery of exams eventually confirmed his suspicions: he had Parkinson’s disease.

USF neurologist Dr. Theresa Zesiewicz (on motorcycle) will participate in the motorcyle ride benefitting the USF Parkinson’s disease center named in honor of her mother, who died from complications of the neurodegenerative disease. One of Dr. Zesiewicz’s patients helped organize the fundraiser.

Now 18 months later, Karczewski, 49, hopes to give something back to the doctor who sat with him during those first long visits talking through all of his questions, and who has continued to treat him ever since.

On Saturday, Feb.21, the inaugural Shakes, Rattles, Rides and Rods fundraiser will be held in Riverview, aiming to raise at least $10,000 for the Frances J. Zesiewicz Center for Parkinson’s Disease at USF, as well as the Michael J. Fox Foundation.

The Frances J. Zesiewicz Center was named in honor of Dr. Zesiewicz’s mother, who died from complications from the disease.

For Karczewski, the fundraiser and ride is a way for him to combine his passion for motorcycles with his desire to contribute to the center and respond to the disease in a positive manner that can help others.

“I’d rather be proactive instead of being down on myself that I have it,” Karczewski said. He added that 100 percent of the proceeds will go to the two foundations, with most of that geared for the USF center to give back to Dr. Zesiewicz for everything she’s done for him. He recalled that for his first office visit with her, she spent close to 45 minutes talking with him.

“When she’s with a patient, that patient gets her time, no matter how long it is,” he said.

Dr. Zesiewicz empathizes with the pain and frustration of patients. She had been a USF fellow in Movement Disorders in the USF Department of Neurology for about a year in 1994 when she was out at a restaurant with her mother. As they were dining, she saw her mother’s hands shaking. “What’s that?” Dr. Zesiewicz asked her. She went on to diagnose her mother with Parkinson’s disease. Frances Zesiewicz died 16 years later in 2010, followed by her brother – Dr. Zesiewicz’s uncle – nine weeks later from the same disease.

“I have a personal stake in this disease,” Dr. Zesiewicz said.

Parkinson’s disease is a neurodegenerative brain disorder that typically progresses slowly from slight tremors to impaired motor dexterity and life-changing problems, including alteration in balance and non-motor secondary symptoms such as depression and anxiety. At least one million people in the United States live with Parkinson’s disease. There is no known cure, though treatments such as medication and surgery are used to manage symptoms.

Dr. Zesiewicz is a tenured USF professor of neurology, as well as director of the USF Ataxia Research Center, the Frances J. Zesiewicz Center and Foundation for Parkinson’s Disease at USF, and the James A. Haley Veterans’ Administration Parkinson’s Disease Clinic.

Her research team has focused on motor and non-motor symptoms of neurological diseases and the testing of new medications to treat them, including currently a national clinical trial testing a powerful antioxidant medication in patients with Friedreich’s ataxia, a rare debilitating neuromuscular disease. This medication is also being tested in Parkinson’s disease.

Dr. Zesiewicz hopes to use donations from the upcoming fundraiser for physical therapy and tai chi classes to help Parkinson’s disease patients develop core strength to counteract problems with balance that can set in as the disorder advances.

When she heard about Karczewski’s plans for the fundraiser and that he and his fellow organizers, wife and support team planned to steer donations toward the center named for her mother, she felt extremely grateful.

“They have just been fantastic in raising money and awareness for this disease,” she said. “They decided to do it and never looked back. They are giving and loving people.”

Karczewski organized the fundraising event with Mike Savidge, publisher of Go For A RideMagazine, after discovering that Savidge’s wife, Charlette, also has the disease. The two combined forces to aid efforts to develop further treatments and a cure for the disease.

Karczewski, who started riding minibikes when he was 8 years old, said he realizes he probably only has another year left to enjoy his passion. He already has downsized from a Harley-Davidson Electra Glide to a Softail. He can ride only about 40 to 50 miles at a time before his body gets too fatigued and he has to stop.

But he always plans to play a part in the fundraisers, which he says will become annual events.

For the first one, he expects to put Dr. Zesiewicz on the back of his bike. “I thought it would be kind of cool to have her riding with me,” he said.

EVENT INFORMATION:The inaugural Shakes, Rattles, Rides and Rods fundraiser to benefit foundations working toward treatments and a cure for Parkinson’s disease will be held from noon to 6 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 21, at the Hidden River Travel Resort, at 12500 McMullen Loop in Riverview.

The event, hosted by AMVETS Post 44, American Legion Riders Alafia Post 148, and Go For A Ride Magazine, will first kick off with a motorcycle ride. Riders should register at the American Legion Alafia Post 148 at 7240 U.S. 301 in Riverview between 10 a.m. and 11:45 a.m.

Requested donations to the event are $15 per person or $25 per couple. It includes food, entertainment, music, dancing, a live auction, vendors, and a grand-prize drawing.

All proceeds go to the Frances J. Zesiewicz Center for Parkinson’s Disease at USF, as well as the Michael J. Fox Foundation.

]]>http://hscweb3.hsc.usf.edu/blog/2015/02/18/motorcycle-ride-benefit-usf-parkinsons-disease-center/feed/0Join the 25th celebration of USF Health Research Day this Friday, Feb. 20http://hscweb3.hsc.usf.edu/blog/2015/02/18/join-25th-celebration-usf-health-research-day-friday-feb-20/
http://hscweb3.hsc.usf.edu/blog/2015/02/18/join-25th-celebration-usf-health-research-day-friday-feb-20/#commentsWed, 18 Feb 2015 19:07:20 +0000http://hscweb3.hsc.usf.edu/?p=13412For 25 years, the USF Health Research Day has provided emerging scientists with a venue for presenting their research to peers and judges and showcasing to the broader […]

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For 25 years, the USF Health Research Day has provided emerging scientists with a venue for presenting their research to peers and judges and showcasing to the broader USF community the new and innovative work taking place in the colleges, schools and programs at USF Health.

The student-centric event that emphasizes the importance of research inquiry and the nuances of scientific discovery has experienced phenomenal growth since starting 25 years ago, when a few dozen presenters displayed their work along the breezeways of the Health Sciences Center.

Posters were displayed along the HSC breezeways and sometimes meant chilly and windy weather.

Along with the growth is an increase in the level of work being presented, said Phillip J. Marty, PhD, vice president for USF Health Research.

“With every year, we see higher caliber research,” Dr. Marty said. “The bar continues to rise and our students, residents and fellows raise their level work along with it.”

Plan to attend this year’s 25th USF Health Research Day, which is from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Friday, Feb. 20, at the USF Marshall Student Center.

Start your morning at 8 a.m. in the Oval Theatre at the Marshall Center to hear oral presentations by the select few chosen to present their work. Then make your way to the Ballroom to see the more than 330 poster presentations from students, trainees, faculty and staff across all four USF Health colleges, as well as USF collaborators whose research focuses on the science of health.

Then head back to the Oval Theatre at 1 p.m. to hear the Roy H. Benke Distinguished Lecturer David Swerdlow, MD, present the keynote address titled “What are the critical epidemiologic questions that need to be answered at the start of an epidemic: What we learned from Influenza A (H1N1) and MERS and how that applies to the Ebola outbreak.” Dr. Swerdlow is associate director and medical epidemiologist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The national designation provides a seal of approval for ALS patients and their families seeking care, said Clifton Gooch, MD, professor and chair of the USF Health Department of Neurology and an ALS specialist.

Dr. Tuan Vu, Dr. Clifton Gooch and Dr. Lara Katzin.

“We were able to meet a high bar and had to prove many levels of proficiency in order to qualify,” Dr. Gooch said. “This designation is a formal recognition of the quality of our Center and will greatly help us in securing grants and philanthropy, and further strengthens our relationship with our national peers and the ALS Association.”

The USF Health ALS Clinic opened in 2010 with the help of the ALS Association Florida Chapter who, in conjunction with donors Steve and Jennifer Blume, saw the need for providing all-encompassing care to local ALS patients. Further clinic expansion was made possible when USF Health, the Chapter, and the Chapter’s board member Wendy Bitner campaigned the Florida Legislature for much needed support for this kind of expensive care throughout the state, creating the Bitner-Plante ALS Initiative of Florida, which was passed during the 2013 session and is providing $1 million to expand services at those Florida clinics offering the highest level of comprehensive ALS Care. The funding helped USF Health double the number of patients seen at its ALS Clinic.

With the certification, the USF Health ALS Clinic is among the nation’s top ALS programs, which should help increase awareness for the disease, the Clinic, and the impressive team at USF Health, said Tuan Vu, MD, professor of neurology and director of the USF Health ALS Center.

“Being regarded as among the best in the nation should result in additional research opportunities and support and help us continue to carry out our mission,” Dr. Vu said. “To us, it is not so much a pat on the back but a challenge to do even better. The Center of Excellence designation is a validation of the hard work and dedication of our team in providing the best care possible to patients with ALS.”

Above all, patients benefit most from this designation, said Lara Katzin, MD, assistant professor of neurology and co-director of the USF Health ALS Center.

“This certification helps give us recognition around the state and the nation for providing quality care to ALS patients and their families,” Dr. Katzin said. “It truly validates what we’ve been doing all along.”

“The University of South Florida’s commitment to excellence in ALS care is evidenced by its thorough and thoughtful approach to the multidisciplinary clinic and the integration of community-based care provided by the Florida Chapter,” said Nicole Yarab, director of Certified Center Programs for the ALS Association. “Dr. Vu, Dr. Katzin and the multidisciplinary team truly provide patient-centered care. We are so pleased to have the University of South Florida join our network of Certified Treatment Centers of Excellence.”

“The first step to certification of an ALS Center of Excellence is a recommendation from the clinic’s local ALS Association chapter,” said Kim Hanna, president and CEO of the ALS Association Florida Chapter. “We were so very pleased to make that recommendation for the USF Clinic. We have worked with their team from the clinic’s inception and know first-hand that ALS patients are in the right place and receiving the very best care when they are here.”

The ALS Association has designated about three dozen Certified Centers of Excellence in the United States. In order to be certified, the USF Health ALS Center had to meet multiple criteria, including providing a multi-disciplinary and inter-disciplinary care, on-site professionals representing the range of specialties ALS patients need, and an active research component, among other requirements. In order to maintain its certification, the USF Health ALS Clinic will undergo a documentation-only review every three years, and an on-site review every five years.

The ALS Association provides certification so as to “ensure that evidence-based care processes that are closely linked to positive outcomes are hard-wired into each individual’s clinic experience.”

]]>http://hscweb3.hsc.usf.edu/blog/2015/02/12/usf-health-als-clinic-named-center-excellence/feed/0USF Health focuses on women and heart disease, launches new programhttp://hscweb3.hsc.usf.edu/blog/2015/02/10/usf-health-focuses-women-heart-disease-launches-new-program/
http://hscweb3.hsc.usf.edu/blog/2015/02/10/usf-health-focuses-women-heart-disease-launches-new-program/#commentsTue, 10 Feb 2015 20:16:29 +0000http://hscweb3.hsc.usf.edu/?p=13360Katie Pemble was trim, did not smoke and lived what she considered a healthy lifestyle. “Do I look like a heart attack waiting to happen?” Pemble, 50, asked […]

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Katie Pemble was trim, did not smoke and lived what she considered a healthy lifestyle.

Today, Pemble, 50, the Florida market president of C1 Bank and chair of the American Heart Association Tampa Bay Metro Board, counts herself lucky to be alive.

She was diagnosed with peripartum cardiomyopathy, a weakened and enlarged heart, at age 34. The condition emerged without recognition in the final months of pregnancy, and progressed to full-blown congestive heart failure soon after Pemble was discharged from the hospital following the birth of her daughter.

At home, the new mother awoke one evening unable to breathe and was rushed to the emergency room. The ER doctor told her family she “probably would not make it through the night.”

But, Pemble did survive. Today, she is a leading advocate for women’s heart health, supporter of the American Heart Association’s “Go Red” campaign, and part of a national movement to shift the focus in heart disease to women, who bear a greater burden of the disease than men.

“Today, even though many women know that heart disease is the number one killer of women, too many still don’t believe it’s their personal number one threat,” she said.

At the USF Women’s Heart Health Luncheon, she shared her story with a room full of business and community leaders, primarily women, who attended the event sponsored by USF Health in partnership with Tampa General Hospital and Florida Hospital Pepin Heart Institute.

The event included cardiologists and a nurse researcher from the newly launched Women’s Heart Health Center at USF Health, an outpatient program with both North and South campus locations. The program, specifically designed for women, offers aggressive management of risk factors for cardiovascular disease, as well as help women diagnosed with heart disease to improve outcomes and quality of life. Educational outreach and clinical research will also be available.

“Once upon a time, heart disease was felt to be a man’s disease only, but we have learned over the past decade that more women suffer and die from heart disease than men. We also now know that their symptoms and presentation tend to be strikingly different from that of men,” said Arthur Labovitz, MD, chair of the Department of Cardiovascular Sciences, USF Health Morsani College of Medicine and co-director of the USF Health Heart Institute.

Scientists and physicians at the USF Health Heart Institute will be part of the national movement to help sort out the differences in cardiovascular diseases between men and women. Understanding those differences can help improve diagnosis and treatment for all.

Tampa Bay area business and community leaders gathered Feb. 3 for the Women’s Heart Health Luncheon, an event sponsored by USF Health in partnership with Tampa General Hospital and Florida Hospital Pepin Heart Institute.

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Despite an “emotionally taxing” first year following her diagnosis, Pemble’s heart recovered its pumping capacity. The life-changing experience set the stage for disciplined adherence to changes in lifestyle. She began to eat healthier, drink more water, and run 2 to 3 miles several times a week. And, the busy back executive who acknowledges a “Type A” personality makes a conscious effort every day to reduce stress.

In hindsight, Pemble said, the occasional shortness of breath, extreme fatigue and swelling that began in her second trimester were red flags attributed as symptoms of a normal pregnancy. In hindsight she would have been more insistent with her doctor about checking out the symptoms.

Now, Pemble wants more women – and the men who care about them – to recognize that heart disease is the number 1 killer of women and what can be done to reduce the risk. She emphasizes that with increased awareness and strong preventive measures, even genetic predisposition does not mean heart disease is destiny.

“It’s important to know your body and if you notice that it feels or behaves differently, follow your instincts to tell (a health care professional) that something is wrong,” she said. “Know your cholesterol and blood pressure numbers, and be prepared to take action when they change.”

Dr. Catherine Lynch, , associate vice president for Women’s Health, was among the USF Health leaders who welcomed the audience.

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Theresa Beckie, PhD, professor of nursing and cardiology at USF Health, studies gender differences in heart disease and is particularly interested in teasing out the physiological, environmental and psychosocial factors contributing to the uptick in young women (ages 35-54) with heart disease. She co-chairs an AHA expert panel developing a scientific statement on heart attacks in women.

While overall cardiovascular death rates have declined since 2001, today one in three women suffers some form of cardiovascular disease.

Unique symptoms in women include non-central chest pain, weakness and, most commonly, unusual fatigue — unlike the classic “Hollywood style” heart attack with intense chest pain and left arm discomfort experienced more often by men. Yet, half of all women who die suddenly from a heart attack never reported symptoms, and women who survive a heart attack are more likely than men to die within a year of its onset, Dr. Beckie said. For reasons not yet understood risk factors for heart disease like smoking, diabetes, obesity and metabolic syndrome appear to have even worse consequences for women than men, she added.

Katie Pemble, Florida Market President of C1 Bank and chair of the Tampa Bay Metro Board, American Heart Association, shared her personal story to help raise awareness about heart disease in women — and how it differs from that in men.

Results of past heart-related clinical trials, done mostly on men, do not always apply to women. Different diagnostic tests may be needed for women as well. While medicine does a good job of diagnosing the larger coronary artery blockages more likely to develop in men, Dr. Beckie said, early research suggests women are prone to microvascular disease all along their blood vessels — tiny diffuse lesions undetected by cardiac catheterization.

“Young women with coronary heart disease represent a particularly high risk, understudied group with stark health disparities in hospital complications, readmissions and mortality following medical therapies driven largely by a male model of heart disease,” she said. “Given that premature heart disease embodies excess years of disability and kills more young women than breast cancer, grasping the reasons for the disparate health outcomes in this vulnerable population is essential.”

To make an appointment at the USF Health Women’s Heart Health Center, please call (813) 353-0248.

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Photos by Eric Younghans, USF Health Communications

]]>http://hscweb3.hsc.usf.edu/blog/2015/02/10/usf-health-focuses-women-heart-disease-launches-new-program/feed/0Florida’s neuromusculoskeletal experts gather at inaugural summit, hosted by USF Physical Therapyhttp://hscweb3.hsc.usf.edu/blog/2015/02/04/floridas-neuromusculoskeletal-experts-gather-inaugural-summit-hosted-usf-physical-therapy/
http://hscweb3.hsc.usf.edu/blog/2015/02/04/floridas-neuromusculoskeletal-experts-gather-inaugural-summit-hosted-usf-physical-therapy/#commentsWed, 04 Feb 2015 16:53:09 +0000http://hscweb3.hsc.usf.edu/?p=13335Experts in rehabilitation and neuromusculoskeletal sciences from Florida’s universities gathered for the Inaugural Summit of the USF Center for Neuromusculoskeletal Research, held January 16, 2015 at CAMLS in […]

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Experts in rehabilitation and neuromusculoskeletal sciences from Florida’s universities gathered for the Inaugural Summit of the USF Center for Neuromusculoskeletal Research, held January 16, 2015 at CAMLS in downtown Tampa, FL.

From left, Dr. John Mayer, Lt. Gen. Martin Steele, and Dr. William Quillen.

Hosted by the USF School of Physical Therapy & Rehabilitation Sciences, the day-long Summit set out to identify and discuss priorities for rehabilitation sciences research and address the burden of neuromusculoskeletal disease on Florida’s population. In addition to USF, the scientists attending represented faculty from Florida A&M University, Florida Gulf Coast University, National University of Health Sciences. Nova Southeastern University, Palmer College of Chiropractic, and University of North Florida.

Musculoskeletal conditions, which can include arthritis, lupus, fibromyalgia, osteoporosis, adult and pediatric injuries, spinal pain and disabilities, and brain and spinal cord injuries, are among the most disabling and costly conditions affecting Americans, said. William S. Quillen, PT, DPT, PhD, FACSM, associate dean and director of the USF School of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Sciences.

“The burden of cost for these conditions is felt throughout the health care system – both in-patient and out-patient, and long-term services – and causing loss of productivity and a huge negative impact on quality of life.”

“Well-designed and impactful research is needed to combat the negative effects of neuromusculoskeletal conditions throughout the State of Florida, United States, and the world,” said John M. Mayer, DC, PhD, Lincoln Endowed Chair and Associate Professor the USF School of Physical Therapy & Rehabilitation Sciences.

The event featured remarks by Lt. Gen. Martin Steele, (U.S. Marine Corps retired), who urged the group to reach beyond the boundaries of their own universities to collaborate with each other and to keep patients in mind as they build their research.

“First, I thank you for what you do and for your commitment to the quality of life for Americans and the people around the world,” said Lt. Gen. Steele, who came to USF five years ago as associate vice president for Veterans Research and chairs the Veterans Reintegration Program and executive director of USF Military Partnerships.

“This is a great effort here, focuses on collaboration, not competition. This is the first summit, and you will be the plank holders. This moment, this opportunity, is a window we have to jump through.”

Lt. Gen. Steele pointed out that USF is affiliated with the James A. Haley VA Hospital, the busiest VA hospital in the country, and the Bill Young VA Hospital, providing ample opportunities for strong collaboration. And as more and more veterans return home, he said, the number of injuries will need to be addressed.

“It is critical what you’re doing, even at the cellular level, because it’s only getting worse. The sustained injuries, the load-bearing equipment they wear, the helmets and neck injuries, the pelvic stress. Low back pain is the biggest issue we have in the military today, particularly in the Marines and the Army. And the demands for what they need to carry are only getting higher.”

And he urged them to continue with their work for all “soldiers, airmen and women, Marines, coast Guard and anyone else who is injured to give them all a chance, an opportunity, to live their lives larger than they’re living them right now.”

Following Lt. Gen. Steele’s keynote address, the group set out to create an asset map of research already taking place and facilities available around the state, which will provide a baseline of the current state of neuromusculoskeletal research initiatives, collaborations, and priorities in Florida.

Dr. Quillen provided a launching point for discussion.

“We were fortunate to acquire of the past few years about a million-dollars-worth of equipment that can quantifiably measure every part of the neuromuscular functional performance,” Dr. Quillen said. “So why can’t our work be inter-institutional. It’s collaboration, not competition.”

Photos by Eric Younghans, USF Health Office of Communications.

]]>http://hscweb3.hsc.usf.edu/blog/2015/02/04/floridas-neuromusculoskeletal-experts-gather-inaugural-summit-hosted-usf-physical-therapy/feed/0New compounds more potent in combatting brain-eating amoeba’s fatal infectionhttp://hscweb3.hsc.usf.edu/blog/2015/01/27/new-compounds-potent-combatting-brain-eating-amoebas-fatal-infection/
http://hscweb3.hsc.usf.edu/blog/2015/01/27/new-compounds-potent-combatting-brain-eating-amoebas-fatal-infection/#commentsWed, 28 Jan 2015 02:06:38 +0000http://hscweb3.hsc.usf.edu/?p=13317Tampa, FL (Jan. 28, 2015) – A University of South Florida Health College of Public Health professor and his team of researchers have zeroed in on compounds that […]

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Tampa, FL (Jan. 28, 2015) – A University of South Florida Health College of Public Health professor and his team of researchers have zeroed in on compounds that could one day lead to fast-acting treatments for the fatal infection caused by the brain-eating amoeba known as Naegleria fowleri.

In a study published online this month in the journal Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, Dr. Dennis Kyle and his fellow researchers show that the two new compounds they identified were 500 times more potent than drugs currently used to combat the amoeba’s fatal infection.

Naegleria fowleri, a free-living amoeba (or FLA) commonly found in warm freshwater lakes, ponds and rivers, hot springs, and poorly chlorinated pools, causes primary amoebic meningoencephalitis, or PAM. PAM is a disease that though rare, is almost always deadly. With a 97 percent fatality rate, the disease usually affects summertime swimmers or Neti pot users who get contaminated water up their noses. (They cannot get PAM by swallowing or digesting contaminated water because stomach acid kills the amoeba.)

Once in the nose, the amoeba quickly moves to the brain, where the resultant infection destroys brain tissue, often leaves afflicted patients comatose within days and usually kills them in a little more than a week. Of 132 reported cases in the United States through 2013, only three survived, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The most recent U.S. death was that of a 9-year-old Kansas girl, an avid water skier who died last summer from PAM after swimming in several area lakes.

Despite PAM’s dire prognosis, its rarity has made it an “orphan disease” – with no concerted efforts to discover new drugs to treat people affected by it, said Dr. Kyle, a professor of global health in the USF College of Public Health.

“One of the major problems is that there have been few people working on it,” he added.

Dr. Kyle had studied Naegleria fowleri as a Ph.D. student. In the decades that followed, his expertise and specialization took him elsewhere into antimalarial drug research and to prominent national and international positions – including as deputy director of the Division of Experimental Therapeutics for the U.S. Army’s Drug and Vaccine Development Programs; and also as the chair of the Genomics and Discovery Research Steering Committee and the Compound Evaluation Network for the World Health Organization.

During those years, he kept up with findings related to the amoeba. He became perplexed as to why modern drug discovery methods were not being applied to this organism.

In this study, Dr. Kyle did just that, assisted by a team of researchers that included Dr. David Boykin from Georgia State University, who worked closely with Dr. Kyle and was the lead on medicinal chemistry aspects of the project.

The brain-eating amoebae Naegleria fowleri as seen under a microscope, magnified 400 times.

The study – which was supported by a grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases – outlines how they developed for the first time the screening tools used to identify chemical compounds with the potential to treat the disease.

Up to this point, drugs used against PAM – including Amphotericin B, pentamidine, propamidine, anticancer miltefosine and azoles – were developed to tackle other diseases but were also found to have a limited impact on the amoeba. Yet no large-scale drug screening program existed to address it head-on.

“In this study, we aimed to develop a discovery paradigm to identify, evaluate, optimize, and advance new molecules towards the clinic for use as new therapies for pathogenic FLA,” the researchers wrote in the study’s report.

A new 72-hour assay or measurement format they developed revealed the lack of potency and slow onset of most drugs currently used against the amoeba. In a major breakthrough, the new format and tools instead helped them discover compounds with 500 times the potency and ways to isolate compounds that take action far faster than current treatments.

Given the deadly speed of the amoeba’s destruction, this last part becomes essential, Dr. Kyle said.

“We really need a new drug that acts quickly,” Dr. Kyle added.

To be sure, Dr. Kyle does not anticipate the studies’ findings to one day supplant current therapy or treatment for PAM, but rather to enhance and complement it.

Also, the research appears promising for future treatment against other types of related amoebae not connected to PAM, such as the one that causes Acanthamoeba keratitis, a serious eye infection that can result in visual impairment or blindness.

Still, more research is needed before new drugs hit the market, Dr. Kyle stressed. That includes more testing of compounds to make sure they cross the blood-brain barrier, the testing on genetic mouse models and clinical trials before seeking Food and Drug Administration approval.

“There is work to do,” he said. The end goal is to save more lives.

“That’s certainly our hope,” he said, “to reduce the fatalities.”

-USF Health-USF Health’s mission is to envision and implement the future of health. It is the partnership of the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine, the College of Nursing, the College of Public Health, the College of Pharmacy, the School of Biomedical Sciences and the School of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Sciences; and the USF Physician’s Group. The University of South Florida is a Top 50 research university in total research expenditures among both public and private institutions nationwide, according to the National Science Foundation. For more information, visit www.health.usf.edu